Caffeine Fiend
by tinx-r
Summary: Murray's exhausted after a conference. Nick & Cody help out.


Murray was exhausted. Conferences were fun: he loved catching up with acquaintances he hardly saw from year to year, hearing the latest developments in different fields, sharing his own ideas with like-minded thinkers. It was a part of his life that thrilled him, and the only thing missing from his day-to-day life on board the Riptide.

Consequently, when he went away to a conference, either as a speaker or an attendee, he made the most of it. A quick calculation told him he'd had six hours sleep in the last three days, and approximately twelve gallons of Mountain Dew.

Murray frowned. That couldn't be right. Could it?

A slight tremor in his fingers suggested that it might in fact be right. Now that he came to think of it, the sun was warm on his skin, but he felt cold. He grinned ruefully., Nick's coffee might be strong, but it didn't prepare his body for drinking Mountain Dew the way he had back at MIT. He had a few hours of sleepless caffeine-fueled exhaustion ahead of him before he'd be able to sleep.

He walked down the gangway and climbed aboard the Riptide, knowing immediately that the boat was empty. Nick and Cody weren't exactly loud, as roommates, but something about their energy filled every available space. Murray certainly knew whenever one or both of them were aboard.

He settled down on the bench seat in the salon, hesitating a moment before pouring himself a cup of coffee. He could see light through the pot, which meant Cody had made it, and anyway, the Mountain Dew had already done its worst. Even Nick's coffee wouldn't make a difference now.

He picked up the paper and folded himself into a corner, staring at something on the front page about a diving accident. He didn't even notice when his eyes drifted closed.

Murray didn't sleep-the caffeine wouldn't let him. Instead, he was trapped in a waking nightmare; on some level he knew it was a dream, but he couldn't summon the strength to get his eyes open, banish the images that plagued him.

He was at a conference, but not just any conference; everyone was in uniform, and at every turn, he saw unfriendly faces. Litvak was on stage, introducing him-speaking at length on a topic Murray had never heard of, something to do with chemical weaponry, a field Murray had taken care to stay out of. And in the audience sat every corporal, every lieutenant who had ever ignored his orders.

Three from the left, he saw the private who had laughed at him in the parade grounds, and felt his face turning red.

It was going to be a nightmare. He'd end up on charges again. Litvak had set him up, but no-one would believe him-

"Murray! Murray!"

Murray blinked. Someone was shouting over Litvak. At any minute, Litvak would explode.

"Boz, wake up." The voice was insistent, and Murray shook his head.

"Not asleep," he advised the speaker muzzily. "Got to speak... say, what do you know about nerve agents?"

"Nerve agents? Murray, I thought you were at a computer game conference!"

"Computer games?" Murray blinked again, and suddenly Litvak vanished along with the hall full of soldiers. He found himself looking into Cody's worried face. "C-Cody? Where am I?"

"On the Riptide, buddy." Cody took the newspaper out of Murray's hands and sat down beside him. "I guess you fell asleep."

"Can't have," Murray said vaguely. "Had too much Mountain Dew."

"Caffeine overload," Nick's voice said succinctly. A moment later Nick appeared on his other side. "Boz, did you sleep at all this week?"

"Sleep..." Murray tried to rub his eyes and nearly broke his glasses. "Ow."

Nick took hold of the glasses and gently lifted them off Murray's face. "C'mon, man. Bed."

"Can't sleep," Murray reiterated, but when Cody lifted him to his feet, he stumbled obediently at his side. Nick steadied him down the stairs and then the two of them helped Murray into his pajamas and tucked him into bed.

It felt nice to lie down, even if sleep was still far away. Murray clutched randomly at his partners, latching on to Cody's arm. "No more dreams," he muttered.

"Nick," Cody said, sounding anxious. "Is he okay, do you think?"

"He'll be fine. Remember that time in the MPs when we'd been up four days straight? Remember how wound you got on all that coffee?"

Cody tensed under Murray's hand. "Yeah. Yeah, that... wow, Nick, y'think he'll-"

"He'll be fine, Cody. He's never seen combat, you know? And anyway, I got a surefire cure."

"What do you mean?"

Murray wondered vaguely why Cody sounded so worried. Maybe Litvak was after him too. "Just tell him about VX," he advised, stumbling a little on his words. That didn't bode well. He'd need a glass of water before he spoke-or maybe another Mountain Dew. "Guys... can I have a drink?"

"Sure, Boz. Cody, get him a drink and a hot water bottle, okay, man?"

"A hot water bottle? It's 85 degrees!"

"Not after the amount of Mountain Dew he's drunk, it's not."

Cody disappeared from under Murray's touch, and Murray moaned in disapproval.

"Take it easy, Murray." The cot creaked as Nick sat on the end of it, and moments later Murray felt his partner's hand rubbing his ankle. "You're gonna feel a whole lot better in just a few minutes, you know?"

Murray sighed happily. Nick's voice, deep and low, was incredibly soothing, and he found himself believing. "So tired, Nick... can't sleep."

"I'm gonna fix that for you real soon, babe. Trust me."

Nick folded back the blankets on the end of the cot, and Murray sighed in pleasure as strong hands started massaging his feet and ankles. Moments later, Cody raised his head and helped him sip cool water. Nothing, Murray thought drowsily, had ever tasted so good.

Cody stroked his hair and Nick's hands kept up their magic on his feet. Murray found himself drifting deeper and deeper, soothed more than he could ever have imagined by his partners' hands and their soft voices as they talked to one another.

"So good to be home," he murmured.

He didn't hear their reply. And by the time Nick tucked the hot water bottle beneath his thoroughly massaged feet, he was well on his way to a dreamless, comforting sleep.

"No more Mountain Dew for him," Cody said ruefully, looking down at Murray's sleeping face.

"At least until the next conference." Nick covered the blankets back over Murray's feet. "C'mon, big guy. He'll sleep til dinnertime now. We'll have pizza - he needs the carbs - and then you can give him a back rub."

"Happy to." Cody shrugged. "You sure he's gonna be okay?"

"Yup. Sleep, carbs, sleep: the one sure cure for caffeine overload." Nick tapped his nose. "Pilots know, buddy."

Cody grinned and stood up. "Yeah, you've flown a hell of a lot of runs on hellish little sleep. What're we gonna do til dinnertime?"

Nick stood too and slung an arm round Cody's shoulders. "Thought you might like to get in some massage-practice." He flexed his own shoulders suggestively.

Cody chuckled. "Oh yeah? And what's in it for me?"

"My undying gratitude." Nick grinned as Cody rolled his eyes. "An' if you're lucky, I'll buy you a beer."

"Throw in the pizza and you're on." Cody bent and straightened Murray's blankets. "Sleep tight, Boz."

Murray smiled in his sleep. Conferences were fun, but nothing could beat his home.


End file.
